It is difficult and uncomfortable for many persons to get into and out of a vehicle. The tiny entry way into small cars makes if tough for all but the most petite and agile people. The cloth seats popular in many vehicles makes it virtually impossible for some elderly and disabled persons to slide in and pivot on the seat to reach the desired driving or riding position. And, a cloth bucket seat, well, if you've just had hip replacement surgery you might as well stay home as try to get into a car that has cloth bucket seats.
A variety of different swivel seats have been designed to help people get into and out of a vehicle. The most basic design is embodied in the "Swivel Cushion." The Swivel Cushion, which is available commercially, consists of a round cloth covered padded disc that swivels on a round base plate that lays on the vehicle seat. U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,339 to Cherniak titled Vehicular Portable Swivel Seat, describes a portable swivel seat that is strapped on to the vehicle seat. The seat described in Cherniak, like the Swivel Cushion, utilizes a round padded disc that swivels on a round base plate that lays on the vehicle seat. A third design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,426 to Grappo titled Seat Accessory. In Grappo, the swivel seat is contoured to fit a persons bottom. In each of these conventional designs, the swivel seat sits fully on top of the base plate and there is no fixed seating platform surrounding the rotatable seating platform to help support the user. In addition, none of these swivel seats offer a transition from the edge of the vehicle seat to the swivel seat.